


Pavlov's Dog

by scarletmanuka



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Behavioural conditioning, First Kiss, M/M, Marauders' Era, Muggle Science, Pining, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Prefect Lupin, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-22
Updated: 2018-01-22
Packaged: 2019-03-08 04:24:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13450494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarletmanuka/pseuds/scarletmanuka
Summary: Upon being made a prefect, Remus is instructed to reign in his friends' more outrageous behaviour. James and Peter won't be an issue but Sirius is a completely different story. Remus finds inspiration from an old experiement done by the Muggle, Pavlov.





	Pavlov's Dog

The corridors of the castle were quiet at this time of the night, students in either dorms or common rooms, walked only by those who either had reason to be out - either on patrol or with an authorised task at hand - or those who were sneaking around, trying to avoid the former. For once, Remus belonged to that illustrious first group. Normally he would be under the invisibility cloak, or walking with his nose glued to the Marauder’s Map, on the lookout for Filch or his ever present companion, Mrs Turner. Speaking of, the cat appeared at the end of the hall, meowing loudly when she saw the teen. The heavily pregnant feline would normally hiss and spit at the other three Marauders, but not Remus. She seemed somehow to sense the wolf and showed him a wary respect. Not that that meant she would let him get away with breaking the rules, waddling off to alert Filch. Before she could raise the alarm tonight, the teen unclipped the pin from his breast and held it out to her. “Hey, kitty, look - a prefect’s badge. See, I’m allowed out and about.”

Feeling more than a little silly, he continued to wave the badge - made from white gold especially for him instead of the regular silver - as the cat crept cautiously forward, sniffing at the badge. After a thorough check, she seemed satisfied and turned and wandered off, her extended stomach swaying ponderously, leaving him alone. Remus was almost certain that she wasn’t just any ordinary cat, but for now, she was leaving him be so he spared it no more thought.

When he finally reached the Gryffindor common room, he found it was deserted. It was well after midnight and everyone else was exhausted after their welcome back feast. Lily Evans, the other new fifth year prefect had already returned from their meeting, but McGonagall had requested he stay back for a ‘chat’. Remus had suspected it would be so she could discuss how the full would affect his duties, and she did indeed touch on that, but the real reason she had held him back was to tell him of her expectations in regards to his friends. Under no circumstances could he show them special favour, and not only McGonagall but also Dumbledore expected the young werewolf to reign in his friends, putting a stop to their more notorious pranks. Always wanting to please, Remus had nodded along and promised that of course he would take his prefect responsibilities seriously, and he would do all he could to settle the three other boys.

Now that he had had a few moments to think about what this entailed, he began to wonder if he could actually manage it. James would be, surprisingly, easy he suspected. He’d confessed on the train on the way here that he had run into Lily over the summer break as their families were holidaying in the same coastal town. Away from Hogwarts and the expectations that his fellow students had of his behaviour, James had found that Lily gave him the time of day. She told him that if he continued to act like a decent human being and not a toddler who had gotten into the lolly jar, she _may_ just accept an invitation to their first Hogsmeade visit, so Remus was sure that James would willingly fall into line.

Peter, who hero worshiped James and would follow him into death itself, would do whatever James did. If their fearless leader behaved, then so would Peter. Remus had hoped that three months away from James would give the small blonde the chance to spread his wings and discover that the world did not, in fact revolve around one James Potter. Unfortunately, all it had seemed to do was make Peter even _more_ eager to please. Since they’d met on Platform 9 and ¾, Peter had done nothing but agree with every word out of James’ mouth, and laugh overly long at his jokes.

The biggest obstacle he would have would be Sirius. Despite being closer than blood brothers, Sirius did not depend on James for everything he did. He had always been more than happy to spend time away from his best friend, doing assignments with Remus in the library, sneaking into the kitchens with Peter, or simply causing trouble by himself. Even if James calmed right down, Sirius would continue to be his normal (boisterous, loud, funny, adventurous, cheeky, daring, troublesome) self, which is exactly what McGonagall wanted to reign in. So just how was Remus supposed to accomplish that?

Remus spent most of the night mulling over his dilemma, hardly sleeping at all and stumbling down to breakfast looking pale and wan. He was so out of it that Sirius actually ducked back up to the dorms to check the moon chart they kept stashed there, clearly worried that the full had snuck up on them with no one realising. He looked even more concerned when he returned, having confirmed there was another two weeks until the next full moon and so something else had caused Remus to look like death warmed up. He placed a palm to the pale boy’s forehead, feeling for a temperature. “Are you okay, Moony?” he asked quietly.

“Yeah, ‘course,” Remus assured him. “Just didn’t sleep well. I guess it takes some getting used to sleeping in the same room with James’ snoring again.”

“Oi!” James protested. “I do _not_ snore!”

“Yeah, mate, you do,” Sirius told him. “Sound like a bloody fog horn every night.”

Turning large eyes to Peter, James asked, “Wormy, please tell me he’s a lying git.”

The smaller boy turned bright red but couldn’t lie outright. “Sorry, but yeah, you snore, Prongs.”

James sniffed. “I don’t believe you. This is all some conspiracy that you’ve cooked up amongst yourselves and I don’t have to sit here and listen to it.” Then he winked and shuffled down the bench to speak to Lily who had just taken a seat.

“Maybe you should drop by and see Madam Pomfrey?” Sirius suggested.

“Honestly, Pads, I’m fine. Stop fretting.”

The dark haired wizard refused to be placated and fussed over Remus for the remainder of their morning meal, and all the way to Transfiguration. If he wasn’t struggling enough with trying to figure out a way to surreptitiously calm Sirius’ wild side, Remus would have found it quite sweet. It was probably a good thing he was so distracted because the last thing he needed on top of all his other burdens was a resurgence in intensity of his years long crush on his dorm mate. He’d been hopelessly in love with Sirius since mid-way through their first year at Hogwarts, and it was only at the end of his third year that he’d finally managed to wrangle some sort of control over his hormone driven feelings. Not that this helped a lot, but it reduced the number of times James or Peter found him gazing longingly at the dark haired boy, and enabled him to be in the same room whilst Sirius got changed without turning beet red and start bumbling around like an idiot. His best friend starting to act so _concerned_ about him, like he actually cared more than was normal would do nothing but destroy his hard fought control.

Of course, it didn't help that the sexy prat was stupidly tactile. Remus had never met anyone who needed constant physical contact the way Sirius did. When they all sat in the common room he would be either pressed right up against one of them, squishing into the same single seat armchair, or draping himself over their laps. At night he would happily snuggle in bed with whoever was the least likely to kick him out and claim back their own space. When they walked through the halls he would sling an arm around shoulders, or even link arms with his friends. When the three boys had successfully managed their Animagi transformations in the weeks leading up to the end of their fourth year, it came as absolutely no surprise to anyone that Sirius took the form of a dog. He shared so many canine attributes (friendly, loyal, protective, slobbering) that Remus was surprised that it had taken so much work to coax the dog out of him.

If anyone else in the school acted the way he did towards other boys, they would have been teased and taunted by the more bigoted bullies mercilessly. In fact, way back in first year several Slytherins had in fact made some such remark, but Sirius had just fixed them with his most arrogant glare (something that the Black’s forced their children to master before they were out of nappies) and then hexed them so that pansies sprouted from their ears. Since then no one passed comment about his affections. This parley extended to whomever was the object of his touch, but as soon as the recipient left Sirius’ presence, they were fair game. Peter had spent an entire Potions class with Sirius draped over his back, lamenting the fact he would miss the next Quidditch game due to detention, and nobody said a word. As soon as Peter left the classroom by himself, several Slytherins had jumped him, calling him homophobic slurs and giving him a black eye.

Since he had come to terms with his feelings for his charming best friend, Remus had been sure to keep a personal bubble around himself at all times. He would give all of his friends a hug at the start and end of term, and if someone required comforting in between he would gladly offer one then, but otherwise, he refrained from rough housing, wrestling, and random cuddle sessions. He had been doing it for so long now that they all just passed it off as ‘a Moony thing’. They quickly forgot the young boy, fresh off the Hogwarts’ Express who was more than happy to hug and cuddle his new friends, having never had that before in his life. No one questioned when it changed and for that he was grateful. If they ever found out he was in love with one of them, he knew they would see it as the ultimate betrayal. Keeping his distance allowed himself to keep his heart safe - he would never have to face the possibility of getting his hopes up after being the object of Sirius’ affections for one evening. Intellectually he knew the other boy meant nothing by his rather harmless touching, but emotionally he would find himself getting his hopes up and reading too much into it.

It was during Transfiguration that Remus had his idea. They were attempting to transfigure a small metal bell into a bird that would make the same sound, able to be sent off as a call for help in emergencies. The sound of the bells ringing combined with the chaotic thoughts of Sirius and his touches and his canine like qualities and Remus found himself freezing as the idea blossomed in his mind, bright and colourful and absolutely perfect. Best of all, Sirius - being from a pureblood family - would have absolutely no knowledge of the experiment and would be unlikely to catch on.

As soon as lunch came, Remus skipped the Great Hall and went straight to the Library, heading directly for the Muggle texts. He flipped through the scientific tomes until he found the one he wanted, hurrying to sign it out. Alone in the dorm as his friends ate their lunch, he flipped through the book until he found the section titles _Pavlov’s Dogs_ . He skimmed the article, refreshing himself with the idea behind Classical Conditioning. In the original experiment, Pavlov noticed that the dogs in his lab would salivate as soon as the lab assistant who fed them would enter the room, even when he didn't have food. Noticing the change in behaviour, he introduced a small bell as his own neutral stimulus. He rang the bell everytime he fed the dogs, which caused them to salivate in expectation of dinner. Even when he _didn’t_ have food but rang the bell, they would still salivate, thus creating a conditioned response.

Remus was sure that he could use this theory to help settle Sirius’ behaviour. A brief concern about the ethics of the situation flitted through his mind but he quickly dismissed it. He wasn’t going to change his best friend’s _entire_ personality, he just wanted to make him rethink his more outlandish pranks, not stop them altogether. And so Remus began to outline a plan. 

He started the very next day. As expected, James was on his very best behaviour in order to woo Lily and so he wasn’t even _discussing_ any pranking opportunities. They had gathered in the common room that night to do their homework, and Sirius was lounged on the floor in front of the couch, moaning about how boring their first few days back had been. “People are going to forget that we even _exist_ if we don’t continue our legacy!” he announced dramatically, getting to his feet and starting to pace. “Besides charming the moving staircases to freeze in the middle of the floors and turning the pumpkin soup purple, we’ve done nothing!” He glared at his friends. “In fact, those were both me - _you lot_ haven’t done a thing!”

“Sorry, mate, but I have a date to aspire to,” James told him.

“We’ve been a bit snowed under with homework,” Peter said, clearly hoping no one would mention that that had never stopped them in the past.

“I think I’m going to go and hunt down Snivellus, maybe practise my leg locker curse,” Sirius mused.

“Pads?” Remus asked, hoping he sounded casual. “Before you go, can you have a look at my potions essay and make sure I’ve covered everything?”

Unable to deny Remus help with his worst subject, Sirius nodded and crossed over, holding out his hand for the essay. Instead of handing it over, Remus took hold of his hand and pulled him down onto the armchair with him so he could hold the parchment in his lap and they could both read it at the same time. Sirius made a small yelp of surprise at the move, then automatically snuggled closer, wriggling deeper into the armchair. He read over the essay and made a few suggestions for changes, correcting two completely incorrect statements and crossing out a redundant paragraph. Once he’d finished, Remus beamed at him and threw an arm around his shoulder, hugging him one handedly and they stayed that way as they talked about the first Hogsmeade weekend.

“Weren’t you going out to hex Snape?” James asked absently when he looked up from his Transfiguration homework ten minutes later and found Sirius still squished next to their resident werewolf.

Sirius just shrugged. “I’m too comfy to move now.” And he didn't move again for the whole night.

oOoOo

The experiment seemed to be working but of course, Remus knew that once did not a success make. Luckily, being a menace to society wasn’t an everyday occurrence for Sirius, only every second day. It was in fact two days later that he looked mournfully up at the ceiling above the Slytherin table while they were at lunch, his lips moving as he worked through an idea.

“I know that look,” James said. “What’ve you got planned?”

Sirius contrived to look innocent. “Moi? Why, nothing at all, my dear Prongs.”

Peter snorted. “Yeah, sure. You’ve got that crazy glint in your eye that means you’re most definitely planning something.”

“Alright, fine - you got me,” the long haired wizard admitted, giving in way too easily in his enthusiasm to share his idea. “I was just thinking that it would be _such_ a pity if it started to rain over the end table.” He waggled his eyebrows as he looked at the swirling clouds that had gathered over the enchanted ceiling.

Remus sighed, knowing that this would definitely count as something that Dumbledore and McGonagall would disapprove of. As confirmation of this, James looked more than a little enthusiastic. “That’s _brilliant_ , Pads!” There was a delicate cough from down the table and all four boys looked over to see Lily Evans giving James a pointed look. The bespectacled boy sighed and dropped his head. “Er, sorry, but you’ll have to do it without me,” he told them sheepishly.

“Honestly, you’re not even dating and she has you whipped!” Sirius exclaimed.

James shrugged but didn't look too upset over it.

“What about you, Moony?” His friend had turned his biggest puppy dog eyes upon him.

“Oh, no, I think I’ll sit this one out,” he said in what he hoped was a regretful tone, rubbing at his neck. “I think I must have slept wrong because my neck is really killing me.” He winced, trying to make it look like he was in pain.

Sirius was immediately at his side. “Here, give me a look.” Then his strong hands were on Remus’ neck and his fingers were kneading at the muscles there. “Hmmm, you’ve got quite a few knotts here, Moony.”

Remus tried to reply but all that came out of his mouth was a stream of unintelligible noises. Nothing had ever felt so amazing in his life. Sirius shifted, straddling the bench to one side and urging his friend to turn around. Remus did and found himself leaning back against Sirius’ chest while his hands continued their ministrations to not only his neck but his shoulders as well. He felt like his muscles were melting, all the tension that he didn't even know he was carrying just seeping away. He made yet another small noise of pleasure and this one seemed to jolt him back to reality.

“Easy now, Moony,” Sirius teased. “I’d like you to buy me a drink before you enjoy my fingers too much.”

He blushed a deep red, and hoped that no one noticed. It hadn’t even been a sound of desire - the way Sirius was making him weak at the knees had nothing to do with his sexual longing for him but all to do with the wandless magic his fingers were weaving. Luckily, his friend didn’t stop and continued to massage his neck and shoulders up until the bell for their afternoon classes began.

oOoOo

The rest of the week passed without major incident. Sirius pulled a handful of relatively harmless pranks that weren’t too disruptive to classes but didn’t go any further. They spent Saturday lounging by the lake, throwing bread rolls to the giant squid and watching as the large tentacles broke the surface of the water to retrieve the treats. Dark clouds had gathered over the course of the day and by the time evening rolled around, the storm hit. The common room was packed as everyone sheltered there after dinner, so the four friends made their way to their dorm as they were unable to find seats. James and Peter lay on their stomachs on one of the beds, flipping through a Quidditch magazine, while Remus sat on his bed, re-reading _The Magician’s Nephew_. Sirius was spread out on the floor, perusing a seventh year charms textbook he’d nicked from one of the study tables downstairs. After ten minutes of silence, Remus grew suspicious and peered over his friend’s shoulder, looking at the spells he was reading. They appeared to all involve ways to magically flood a building and the werewolf knew it was time for evasive action.

Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he patted the space between his knees. “Come here, Pads. I want to practise my plaiting.”

“Your what now?” Sirius asked, looking at him suspiciously.

Remus rolled his eyes. “It’s nothing nefarious, I promise.”

“What is it exactly then?”

“It’s a hairstyle. My young cousins taught me how to plait their hair over the summer break and I’m pretty bad at it so they told me I needed to practise so I’m better when I see them at Easter.”

The dark haired boy’s eyes lit up at the mention of Remus playing with his hair and he happily positioned himself in between his spread legs. “So is it like braiding?” he asked. “I look rather dashing with a braid!”

Remus laughed. “Not quite as intricate - I don’t seem to possess enough fingers to braid so I stick to plaiting which is only three strands.” He was running his fingers through the long, ebony locks, working out the few tangles that had formed during the day. His friend’s hair was so thick and soft that Remus found himself getting distracted, so busy enjoying the way it flowed through his fingers that he didn't even start the plait for five minutes. Sirius didn't seem to mind at all and after a few moments, Remus noticed he was making a strange sound. “Are you...are you _purring_?” he asked in astonishment.

“What? It feels nice,” Sirius said without a trace of embarrassment. “I love people playing with my hair but no one ever does,” he added with a pout.

“If no one ever does, how do you know you love it?” James quipped from across the room.

“Andy used to do it when she was allowed at family gatherings,” Sirius explained, his head falling forward a little onto his knees.

No one knew quite how to respond to this - any mention of his cousin normally led to Sirius withdrawing into himself as he mourned Andromeda’s exile from the family. Remus continued to trail his fingers through the silky hair, scratching his nails lightly against Sirius’ scalp and causing him to make a similar noise to the one that had escaped his own throat the other day at lunch.

“Bloody hell, you two make sounds that should be reserved for a porno,” James complained.

“Fuck off, Prongs,” Sirius said good naturedly. “You should get Pete to do this to you and then you’ll see how good it feels.”

“I could if you’d like,” Peter offered cheerfully.

“Nah, thanks mate but I think I’m good,” James replied with a small shake of his head.

Remus finally divided the long black hair into three sections and picked them up, beginning to twist them together into some semblance of a plait. His tongue peeked out of his mouth as he concentrated, getting to the end and then tutting at the mess. He ran a finger through the plait, undoing it and then he started again, going slower this time and attempting to make it neater.

Peter excused himself a short time later and nipped off to the kitchens, coming back with a large platter of cakes and biscuits for them to snack on. James pulled out his hidden stash of Firewhiskey and the two boys joined them on Remus’ bed, allowing for conversation to flow.

The storm raged outside, lightning flashing periodically and Remus allowed himself a moment to wish that the castle’s lighting ran on electricity and not magic. He missed the blackouts he’d experienced as a kid when he’d stayed with his grandparents, always finding them exciting. Sitting around with a torch or candles, listening to the wind howl outside, and the rain pound down on the roof had sent his blood racing in his veins.

After one particularly bright flash of lightning, Remus paused in his work and picked up his wand, waving them at the lights. The room was plunged into semi-darkness almost immediately.

“What was that for?” Peter asked nervously.

“I wanted to just enjoy the storm,” he replied, dropping his wand and restarting the plait for the fifth time.

“Mmm, good idea,” Sirius agreed, his voice almost slurring he was so relaxed. “Love a good storm.”

“Oooh, let’s tell ghost stories!” James suggested, pushing his glasses further up his nose.

“Do we have to?” Peter squeaked.

“Does anyone have anything better to do?” James asked.

Remus fought to contain his smile when Sirius replied, “Nope, not a thing.”

oOoOo

There was no way that Remus was always going to be successful. Not only was he only trying to curb the more disruptive pranks and so didn’t actually attempt to stop the more vanilla ones, but the idea of pranking and causing mischief was so ingrained in his friend’s psyche that there was no way Sirius’ behaviour would change overnight. When he did play a more severe prank, Remus tried his best to ensure that he didn’t do anything to reward that behaviour.

When Sirius transformed into Padfoot and ran through one of the girl’s bathrooms, stealing all of the bras while the unsuspecting students were showering, Remus was sure to chastise him firmly. The furry ratbag had scarpered up to the Gryffindor common room, was let in the portrait hole by Peter and then hid in the dorm while Filch went on the rampage, trying to find the mangy mutt that was running riot around the grounds. Padfoot dropped the bras onto the ground and sat, staring at Remus as if in triumph, his thick tail thumping on the ground.

“Bad dog!” Remus scolded, wagging a finger at him.

Padfoot had whined and had crossed to the room, head low and snuffling at his friend’s legs. He butted his head against his shins and whined again.

“No, naughty dogs don’t get pats,” Remus snapped, looking away so those liquid eyes wouldn’t make his resolve disappear.

The next time happened the day before the full arrived and Remus was in a tetchy mood. His bones were already aching in anticipation of the painful transformation that he would undergo the following evening and he couldn’t concentrate. He’d already snapped at Peter who had asked to borrow his Charms notes, and he’d made a first year cry when he’d found her trying to access one of the out of bounds rooms. She’d tried to convince him that she was lost but he told her she’d have to come up with a better excuse, docked five points from Ravenclaw and sent her scurrying.

So when Sirius declared at lunch that he was planning on charming the barrels at the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room to squirt soy sauce at anyone trying to access the room, he may have gone a little overboard. Sirius had gone to throw his arm around Remus’ shoulder affectionately as he explained his grand plan, and instead of casually shrugging him off like he’d pictured himself doing in his mind, Remus had jerked back suddenly and snapped, “ _Don’t touch me_!” before storming off.

His friend had avoided him for the rest of the day, but even from across the common room that night, Remus could see the hurt in his eyes. He’d not meant to snap so much at Sirius but the timing had just been completely wrong. Unable to really explain what had happened, he called it quits for the day and headed upstairs to bed.

It was several hours later when the door squeaked open and Sirius entered their dorm. He paused as he passed by the foot of Remus’ bed and whispered, “Moony, are you awake?”

“Yeah,” he replied softly. “Haven’t been able to sleep.”

The bed dipped and suddenly Sirius was lying down next to Remus. Granted, he was on the top of the blankets, but the young werewolf was suddenly very aware of the close proximity of his gorgeous friend. “I’m sorry if I upset you,” Sirius murmured, turning onto his side so he was facing Remus, their noses only inches apart.

“I’m sorry I snapped.”

“What did I do wrong?” He sounded so dejected that Remus couldn’t dare shrug it off by claiming it was ‘nothing’.

“I’m just really achy right now,” he told him, not entirely a lie. “Anything against my skin irritates me and I can’t handle people touching me right now.”

“Oh, okay. Sorry if I hurt you.”

“It’s okay, Pads.”

“Is this okay? Me being here like this?”

“Yeah, this is fine.”

In the dim light he saw Sirius smile. “I’m glad. Goodnight then, Moony.” And he closed his eyes and went to sleep.

oOoOo

Remus found himself hoping more and more that Sirius would come up with absurd prank ideas just so he could continue his little experiment. Despite his best efforts, his crush on his friend was only growing in intensity. Everytime he managed to distract Sirius from pulling some crazy plan, Remus grew bolder and bolder with his affections. It was like he himself was developing a conditioned response to the dark haired wizard. He craved the contact with Sirius and found himself touching him more than normal even when he _wasn’t_ concocting a mad scheme.

If Sirius noticed, he didn't seem to mind - in fact, he seemed to be much more cheerful than normal. He bounced around the place, full of energy and when he turned into Padfoot on the night of the full moon, he played with Moony like an overexcited puppy.

The only downside was that James was starting to get suspicious about what was going on. He tried to subtly ask Remus if he was okay, if there was anything wrong, but was too tactful to come right out and ask what was going on with the complete turn around in his stance on physical touch. He kept a close eye on Remus and the werewolf tried to be more tactile towards both James and Peter to ease his suspicions.

The prefects attended a monthly meeting and at the next one, McGonagall pulled him aside yet again, but this time to congratulate him on whatever he was doing to reign in his friends. Remus blushed, chuffed at the praise, but also scared she might ask exactly how he had managed it. She didn't, just gave him one of her rare smiles and told him to keep it up. He hurried back to the dorm, wondering just how long he would even _be able_ to keep it up. With James asking questions, and his own feelings for Sirius growing to dangerous levels, something would probably have to give.

The following week when they were alone in the dorm room, Sirius asked Remus if he would plait his hair once again. More than happy to play with those luscious locks, he readily agreed and soon his best friend was sitting once more between his knees, humming in contentment as Remus played with his hair. They were quiet, neither feeling much like speaking, just enjoying the rare moment of peace in the dorm. Remus swore he could feel a thrumming tension begin to build between them, but knew it was probably just his own desires talking and not actually happening.

The quiet was shattered as James and Peter bowled into the room, broomsticks slung over the shoulders, their cheeks tinged pink with the cold. As he stored his broom, James looked over at the pair and smirked. “Getting yourself all pretty with your date with McKinnon?” he asked Sirius.

Remus froze, the lock of hair in his hands slipping from his grasp as he physically recoiled backwards from his friend.

“What are you on about?” Sirius asked James in a lazy voice, but his entire body had stiffened.

“I heard she asked you to go to Hogsmeade with her tomorrow. Did I hear wrong?”

“No, you didn’t,” Sirius confirmed, and Remus shuffled backwards on the bed, trying to break their contact. “You obviously didn't hear the rest though,” the long haired wizard continued.

“Oh?” James asked with a curiosity that matched Remus’ silent one.

“I turned her down,” Sirius said. “Not interested in her.”

“Cor, why not?” Peter asked, eyes wide. “She’s gorgeous! Have you seen her tits?” He held his hands out exaggeratedly in front of himself.

“There’s more to life than a pair of tits,” Sirius drawled, and Remus felt himself minutely relax.

“Like what?” Peter asked in an uncharacteristic display of confidence.

“Lots of things, Wormtail. Loyalty and a sense of humour and wit for starters.”

Peter shrugged. “I reckon I’d still take a pair of tits over any of that any day.”

Sirius gave a small shake of his head. “You should also take a damn shower - you reek. You too, Prongs.”

Feeling like he could return to his task, Remus once more ran his fingers through Sirius’ hair, moving himself back to the edge of the bed so his knees were pressed tightly around the other teen.

“Yeah, yeah,” James said, looking through the pile of washing in the corner for a change of clothes. “You’re just jealous because we got some fresh air and exercise today and you’ve stayed cooped up in this dreary tower.”

“No, I’m honestly telling you that you stink.”

James snorted and pushed Peter towards the door. “Fine, but we’re using the prefect’s bathroom, Remus. Wormtail here likes it when Myrtle pervs on him. Has the password changed from Merryweather?”

“How the hell did you know the password?” Remus demanded indignantly.

“You left it written down on your bedside table, you daft bugger,” James told him with a wink.

Remus rolled his eyes but nodded. “Yes, it’s still Merryweather.”

“Awesome, catch you losers later. Come on, Wormy, lets go and see your girlfriend.”

They could hear Peter squawking at James as they left and then silence fell over the room once more. Remus finished the plait and then sat fiddling with the elastic band for a while, not wanting to stop from playing with Sirius’ hair.

“Hey, Moony?” Sirius asked after a while.

“Yeah?”

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”

“Oh?” He swallowed hard, not recognising the odd note to his friend’s voice.

Sirius turned around, sitting up on his knees and leaning in towards Remus. “I have a confession to make.”

“You do?” he squeaked.

Sirius leaned in even closer, until their noses were almost brushing. “I do,” he confirmed. He moved in even more until his lips were brushing against the shell of Remus’ ear. “Every time you enter the room, Moony,” he whispered, “I start salivating.”

Realisation slammed into Remus that Sirius knew _exactly_ what he'd been doing and he knew he should be panicking, that his friend would surely start yelling at him any second now. Instead, Sirius grinned and then leaned forward and licked Remus from chin to temple. “Shall we see what other conditioned behaviours you can teach this dog?”

His head was ringing, like a small bell was being strunk over and over again, and Remus just nodded, then leaned forward, and kissed him.

**Author's Note:**

> I have just a general knowledge of this experiment so I apologise in advance to anyone who is actaully studying behavioural science who cringed whilst reading this ;-)


End file.
